Covid Report for Family

Background

Notes and format last updated May 7, 2020

Starting on the May 7th update, the NY Times began including probable covid cases/deaths along with confirmed. This mostly affects death counts – for certain geographies that include probable COVID deaths in addition to confirmed, these are now added to the totals. For the time being, they were all added to the May 6th totals, causing a big spike at the U.S. level. Over time, NY Times will revise their historical counts and distribute these added deaths when they actually occurred, so the spike should fade.

• This page shows COVID data broken down into regions that affect our family. It pulls from publicly available raw data from the NY Times, which is reported daily. It’s on a one-day lag, so when you see this report, the most recent day included will be that reported the day prior.
• The table of contents above summarizes the major sections and can be used to jump to those sections.
• Each major section is then divided into tabs to allow you to more easily shuffle between geographies and metrics.
  • If you open on your phone, I don’t believe the tabs will work, so you’ll just see the page as one long, continuous document.
• More detailed descriptions and context can be found in each section.

Growth rates

Heat maps

• The two heat maps below compare how quickly total cases or deaths have grown at various times in our respective geopgraphies.
• The first plot compares growth rate for total cases; the second, growth rate for total deaths.
• The metric used is doubling time, by which I mean how quickly total cases or deaths are doubling.
• The plots track that doubling time at each date for our geographies. Darker colors reflect shorter doubling times, and thus periods of faster growth.
  • You can use the plots to track each geography over time and to compare the geographies to one another.
  • You can also compare the cases and death charts, to see how faster periods of death growth follow faster periods of case growth.

Case growth rates

• This section charts the growth rate of both total and new cases for each of our respective geographies. Each geography has its own chart, and then that chart will have a trendline for total cases and new cases.
  • There are only plots for the U.S. and states because the numbers for the counties are too small to generate worthwhile trendlines in this section.
• Note that we’re charting growth rate and not a count of cases, so don’t think of these as the standard “curve” that we hear about in the news and that we want to flatten. Instead, these growth rate charts help track more precisely what we can only estimate when we see those other curves. For these growth rate charts, if the line is above zero, the metric we are tracking (total or new cases) is continuing to grow. If the growth rate line is going up, it’s growing more quickly each day; if it’s going down but still above zero, it’s growing less quickly (but still growing). Only when the growth rate lines go below zero has the metric stopped growing.
• Each of these two lines uses rolling windows to calculate a growth rate for that particular metric. I do the calculation differently for each to smooth out some of the large day-to-day discrepancies in new case reporting at the state level.
  • For total cases, the trendlines are a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rates in total cases. We want to see these decline (and almost all are), but they can’t go below zero. This is because we’re tracking growth rate and a growth rate line below zero would mean total cases have gone down, which can’t happen. They can only grow less quickly, which means we want to see the total case line get as close to zero as possible.
  • For new cases, the trendlines show a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rate in the rolling 7-day average of new cases. Including two rolling periods in this average helps smooth out crazy spikes at the state level that result from large day-to-day changes. Unlike the lines for total cases, we want to watch for the lines for new cases to get consistently below zero and stay there. That means that we are consistently seeing fewer new cases on a daily basis.

U.S.

Our states

Death growth rates

• This section charts the growth rate of both total and new deaths for each of our respective geographies. Each geography has its own chart, and then that chart will have a trendline for total deaths and new deaths.
  • There are only plots for the U.S. and states because the numbers for the counties are too small to generate worthwhile trendlines in this section.
• Note that we’re charting growth rate and not a count of deaths, so don’t think of these as the standard “curve” that we hear about in the news and that we want to flatten. Instead, these growth rate charts help track more precisely what we can only estimate when we see those other curves. For these growth rate charts, if the line is above zero, the metric we are tracking (total or new deaths) is continuing to grow. If the growth rate line is going up, it’s growing more quickly each day; if it’s going down but still above zero, it’s growing less quickly (but still growing). Only when the growth rate lines go below zero has the metric stopped growing.
• Each of these two lines uses rolling windows to calculate a growth rate for that particular metric. I do the calculation differently for each to smooth out some of the large day-to-day discrepancies in new death reporting at the state level.
  • For total deaths, the trendlines are a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rates in total deaths. We want to see these decline (and almost all are), but they can’t go below zero. This is because we’re tracking growth rate and a growth rate line below zero would mean total deaths have gone down, which can’t happen. They can only grow less quickly, which means we want to see the total death line get as close to zero as possible.
  • For new deaths, the trendlines show a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rate in the rolling 7-day average of new deaths. Including two rolling periods in this average helps smooth out crazy spikes at the state level that result from large day-to-day changes. Unlike the lines for total deaths, we want to watch for the lines for new deaths to get consistently below zero and stay there. That means that we are consistently seeing fewer new deaths on a daily basis.

U.S.

Our states

By population rankings

This section tracks metrics for states and counties normalized for population (number of cases or deaths per million residents), and then compares these figures both for our geographies and the country overall.

States

• This section shows tables ranking all 50 states for per populations rates of total cases, new cases, total deaths, and new deaths.
• For each metric, in addition to the tables, the trends for the top states are plotted over time.
  • We only plot the top ten states for each metric so that the plots aren’t too crowded. But you can view the full 50-state rankings in the tables.

Total confirmed cases

Table of total confirmed cases per million residents (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	Cases Per Million
1	North Dakota	143,547
2	Rhode Island	142,290
3	South Dakota	139,965
4	Utah	125,855
5	Tennessee	123,672
6	Arizona	120,159
7	Iowa	117,267
8	Wisconsin	115,259
9	Nebraska	115,113
10	South Carolina	114,492
11	Oklahoma	114,095
12	New Jersey	113,957
13	Arkansas	112,467
14	Delaware	110,835
15	Alabama	110,314
16	Indiana	110,010
17	Illinois	108,446
18	Kansas	108,000
19	New York	107,327
20	Florida	107,068
21	Idaho	106,758
22	Mississippi	106,140
23	Minnesota	105,730
24	Nevada	104,447
25	Montana	103,945
26	Georgia	102,940
27	Wyoming	102,591
28	Kentucky	102,180
29	Massachusetts	102,037
30	Texas	101,290
31	Louisiana	100,467
32	Missouri	99,424
33	Michigan	98,274
34	Connecticut	97,032
35	New Mexico	96,092
36	California	95,482
37	North Carolina	95,442
38	Alaska	94,575
39	Ohio	93,551
40	Pennsylvania	93,318
41	Colorado	93,230
42	West Virginia	88,803
43	Virginia	78,650
44	Maryland	75,583
45	New Hampshire	72,057
46	District of Columbia	68,911
47	Washington	56,067
48	Puerto Rico	53,449
49	Maine	49,333
50	Oregon	46,670
51	Vermont	38,442
52	Hawaii	24,293

New confirmed cases

Table of new cases per million residents: rolling 3-day average (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	New Cases Per Million
1	Delaware	315
2	Michigan	200
3	Wyoming	171
4	Louisiana	159
5	Idaho	149
6	Maine	148
7	New Mexico	133
8	Mississippi	132
9	Alaska	131
10	North Carolina	131
11	Colorado	127
12	Nevada	127
13	West Virginia	126
14	Florida	117
15	North Dakota	112
16	Rhode Island	110
17	Illinois	108
18	Tennessee	108
19	Pennsylvania	106
20	Minnesota	103
21	Washington	103
22	Kentucky	99
23	Kansas	98
24	Montana	98
25	Oregon	91
26	Connecticut	90
27	Indiana	90
28	Texas	88
29	Utah	88
30	Wisconsin	83
31	Ohio	75
32	Arizona	74
33	New Hampshire	74
34	New York	72
35	Arkansas	68
36	Missouri	68
37	South Dakota	67
38	Iowa	65
39	Georgia	61
40	Massachusetts	60
41	Nebraska	58
42	South Carolina	57
43	Vermont	56
44	Alabama	54
45	New Jersey	53
46	Oklahoma	52
47	Hawaii	50
48	Puerto Rico	44
49	Virginia	44
50	District of Columbia	42
51	Maryland	41
52	California	33

Total deaths

Table of total deaths per million residents (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	Deaths Per Million
1	New Jersey	2,929
2	New York	2,698
3	Massachusetts	2,581
4	Rhode Island	2,551
5	Mississippi	2,442
6	Arizona	2,403
7	Connecticut	2,301
8	Louisiana	2,260
9	South Dakota	2,253
10	Alabama	2,252
11	Pennsylvania	2,107
12	North Dakota	2,015
13	Indiana	2,007
14	Michigan	1,994
15	New Mexico	1,966
16	Illinois	1,962
17	Arkansas	1,923
18	Iowa	1,907
19	South Carolina	1,877
20	Georgia	1,876
21	Nevada	1,800
22	Tennessee	1,794
23	Texas	1,767
24	Oklahoma	1,748
25	Kansas	1,746
26	Delaware	1,696
27	Florida	1,688
28	Ohio	1,679
29	District of Columbia	1,592
30	California	1,588
31	Missouri	1,556
32	West Virginia	1,543
33	Kentucky	1,532
34	Montana	1,498
35	Maryland	1,481
36	Wisconsin	1,327
37	Minnesota	1,315
38	Virginia	1,294
39	North Carolina	1,235
40	Wyoming	1,231
41	Nebraska	1,223
42	Idaho	1,161
43	Colorado	1,147
44	New Hampshire	985
45	Puerto Rico	767
46	Washington	751
47	Utah	709
48	Oregon	622
49	Maine	600
50	Alaska	481
51	Vermont	408
52	Hawaii	345

New deaths

Table of new deaths per million residents: rolling 3-day average (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	New Deaths Per Million
1	Missouri	8
2	Alaska	7
3	Michigan	4
4	Florida	3
5	Oklahoma	3
6	Connecticut	2
7	Louisiana	2
8	New Jersey	2
9	North Carolina	2
10	Ohio	2
11	Pennsylvania	2
12	Tennessee	2
13	Washington	2
14	Arizona	1
15	Arkansas	1
16	Colorado	1
17	District of Columbia	1
18	Georgia	1
19	Illinois	1
20	Indiana	1
21	Iowa	1
22	Kansas	1
23	Kentucky	1
24	Maine	1
25	Maryland	1
26	Massachusetts	1
27	Minnesota	1
28	Mississippi	1
29	Montana	1
30	Nevada	1
31	New Hampshire	1
32	New Mexico	1
33	New York	1
34	Oregon	1
35	Puerto Rico	1
36	South Dakota	1
37	Texas	1
38	Utah	1
39	Vermont	1
40	Virginia	1
41	West Virginia	1
42	Wisconsin	1
43	Alabama	0
44	California	0
45	Delaware	0
46	Hawaii	0
47	Idaho	0
48	North Dakota	0
49	Rhode Island	0
50	South Carolina	0
51	Wyoming	0
52	Nebraska	-1

Counties

• This section focuses on the county level. It shows tables with our counties ranked by percentile of U.S. counties for per population rates of total cases and total deaths.
  • Each table also shows the top five counties in the country in addition to our counties, for added perspecive.
• In addition to the tables, our counties’ percentile for both total cases and total deaths are plotted over time.

Confirmed cases

Table showing total cases per million and percentile for all US counties. Includes our counties and the top 5 in the US for perspective.

County	State	Cases Per Million	Raw Ranking	Percentile
Chattahoochee	Georgia	375,355	1	99
Crowley	Colorado	362,976	2	99
Bent	Colorado	275,596	3	99
Dewey	South Dakota	250,000	4	99
Lincoln	Arkansas	246,084	5	99
Davidson	Tennessee	142,606	188	94
Richland	South Carolina	112,770	983	68
York	South Carolina	112,115	1015	67
Orange	California	85,468	2240	28
Pierce	Washington	58,531	2850	9

Our county percentiles over time

Deaths

Table showing total deaths per million and percentile for all US counties. Includes our counties and the top 5 in the US for perspective.

County	State	Deaths Per Million	Raw Ranking	Percentile
Foard	Texas	8,658	1	99
Galax city	Virginia	8,350	2	99
Jerauld	South Dakota	7,948	3	99
Emporia city	Virginia	7,856	4	99
Hancock	Georgia	7,804	5	99
Orange	California	1,585	1830	41
York	South Carolina	1,363	2084	33
Davidson	Tennessee	1,361	2089	33
Richland	South Carolina	1,349	2109	32
Pierce	Washington	741	2742	12

Our county percentiles over time

Raw counts

• This section shows the raw counts over time for the U.S., our states, and our counties for four categories:
  • Total confirmed cases: This is the cumulative total of cases reported.
  • New confirmed cases: This is the number of new cases reported on each respective date.
    • For the U.S. and states, a trendline shows the rolling 7-day average of new cases, to help better visualize the peak.
  • Total deaths: This is the cumulative total of deaths reported.
  • New deaths: This is the number of new deaths reported on each respective date.
    • For the U.S. and states, a trendline shows the rolling 7-day average of new deaths, to help better visualize the peak.

Total confirmed cases

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

New confirmed cases

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

Total deaths

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

New deaths

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

Stay-at-home comparisons

• This section is a work in progress. It’s exploring what effect stay-at-home orders have on spread. It’s inherentely messy because some states have localized orders but not orders for their full state and because states implemented the orders at different times.
  • The first plot shows a rolling 3-day average of new cases per million residents, averaged across 2 groups of states – those with a state-wide stay-at-home order in effect and those without. The size of the dots reflect the number of states in each group for each given day (so the dots are getting bigger over time for the group with orders, as more states implement those orders).
    • So far, this view doesn’t show if these orders are “working” or not. Instead, the biggest takeaway from the current plot is that the states that implemented orders are reacting to having worse spread, which is why the case rate is so much higher at the start for them. As a state decides it has a problem and implements an order, it joins the grouping of states with orders and drives the rate up for that group.
    • Over time (if the policies work), what we’d expect is that the line for the group with orders flattens or declines in relation to the no-order group. It also may become moot if all states issue orders.
    • As states start rescending their orders, I’ll put them back into the no-order group, so the no-order group should beging to expand again.
  • The second plot tracks progress of states by the number of days since orders have been in effect. It includes only those states with orders and shows their average new case growth rate (a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rates) based on how long it’s been since the order went into effect. Again, the size of the dots show how many states are included in each point – i.e., as you go further right, the dots are smaller because less states are that far past their order.
    • I’m working on how to add a baseline to this chart to compare to states without orders, but that’s challenging because there’s no way to fully align timing.